Rep. Darrell Issa managed to push the details of a secret wiretap application from the botched “Fast and Furious” gunwalking operation into the public domain this week when he entered summaries into the Congressional Record, apparently using Congress‘ protection under the speech and debate clause to get around legal boundaries.

The summary of a March 2010 wiretap application shows that federal agents repeatedly lost track of guns they knew were being trafficked back to cartels in Mexico — a violation of Justice Department policy that should have raised red flags with top department officials who signed off on the wiretaps, said Mr. Issa, California Republican and chairman of the oversight committee that is looking into the operation.

image: FOX

Mr. Issa introduced the summary as part of the House’s debate Thursday before lawmakers held a historic vote to to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress.

Mr. Issa contends the wiretap application contradicts Mr. Holder’s claim that nothing in there would have shown gunwalking was going on.

“The affidavit explicitly describes the most controversial tactic of all: abandoning surveillance of known straw purchasers, resulting in the failure to interdict arms,” Mr. Issa said in a letter he placed in the Congressional Record. It appears on pages H4409 through H4411 of Thursday’s official chronicle of its debates.

The information in the wiretap affidavit is sealed and was not supposed to be released in public, but Roll Call reported Friday that Mr. Issa was using constitutional protections for speech and debate in Congress to put the information before the public.

While Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress, it was a bittersweet day for the family of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. The disrespect the Democrats showed Agent Terry was appalling, including the Congressional Black Caucus walking out on the contempt vote.

Agent Terry’s brother Kent responded to the walkout in a grieved email:

Very sad that our childish Goverment walks out. What kind of respect? Does that tell you they’re for getting justice for Brian and [Jaime] Zapata and any law enforcement that dies in the line of duty? This is the respect they get.

The families of Agent Terry and the 300+ dead Mexicans deserve justice, and it is telling that members of Congress are more interested in protecting one of the most powerful, sheltered men in the country rather than pursuing that justice.

The Justice Department moved Friday to shield Attorney General Eric Holder from prosecution after the House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.

The contempt vote technically opened the door for the House to call on the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to bring the case before a grand jury. But because U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen works for Holder and because President Obama has already asserted executive privilege over the documents in question, some expected Holder’s Justice Department to balk.

~ Ire: FOX is getting to sound more like MSM. A handful is FIVE you oaf NOT the 21 dems that crossed over! I am so sick of irresponsible reporting when , we as citizen bloggers cross our T’s & dot our i’s repeatedly with research and links galore. All he had to do was either watch or look anywhere to see the 21, not his handful! ~ JP

Deputy Attorney General James Cole confirmed in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner that the department in fact would not pursue prosecution. The attorney general’s withholding of documents pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious, he wrote, “does not constitute a crime.”

“Therefore the department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the attorney general,” Cole wrote, in the letter obtained by Fox News.

For those who only hear about these failing companies one by one, the following is a list of all the clean energy companies supported by President Obama’s stimulus that are now failing or have filed for bankruptcy. The liberal media hopes you’ve forgotten about all of them except Solyndra, but we haven’t.

For me as I watched the entire hearing yesterday, all the blustering by the dems during speeches and motions, what stood out to me was which republicans were in lockstep with the nay votes. I frantically appealed on Twitter to many so-called reporters: WHO, who, voted against it. I never got even a single reply on it. Anyone who follows my Tweets/Retweets witnessed my unanswered queries yesterday. Thanks to Patriot Update and Breitbart we now know which two seats need to be unseated:

Rigell, who is serving his first term, represents a district that included parts of the Hamptons, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk, a constituency that contains “a large population of African-Americans,” according to a report in the New York Times. LaTourette, is a moderate from Ohio. So is that it Patriots? Fear of his black constituents rebelling for finding a black man in contempt. We know the left is making race an issue this year.

The vote tallies were 255 yeas, 67 nays, and on present, and 110 Congressmen did not vote. The vote fell largely along party lines, with 17 Democrats voting yea and two Republicans–Scott Rigell (VA-2) and Steven C. LaTourette (OH-14)–voting nay. The Congressional Black Caucus, as promised, walked out of the vote.

First let us address Scott Rigell. Pay Attention Virginia:

On Daily Caller today Scott is calling for Erik’s resignation.Later in the day he voted to hold Holder in civil contempt of Congress.

In a statement provided to The Daily Caller, Rigell explains why he voted in favor of civil contempt for Holder and against criminal contempt.

“In the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, there is built-in tension among the three branches of our federal government,” Rigell said. “This tension was reflected in two votes that came to the House floor this afternoon.”

“I believe in progressive discipline,” Rigell added. “Accordingly, and after a careful review of the facts, I voted against a bill to hold the Attorney General in criminal contempt of Congress. Later, I voted for a bill that authorizes the Oversight Committee to initiate or intervene in judicial proceedings and force the Attorney General to comply with what are very reasonable oversight requests from this Congress.”

And tell your constituents Scott, WHY Holder should NOT be held in ‘Criminal’ contempt?! He IS in fact (Attorney General Eric Holder’s Record of Corruption) a criminal.

“There is understandably some concern over the series of votes on whether Attorney General Eric Holder should be held in contempt for his failure to provide ALL documents relating to Fast and Furious. I say series of votes because some folks posted comments after the first vote, perhaps unaware that there were two votes. The first vote was to hold the AG in criminal contempt and the second was whether to hold him contempt of Congress and authorize the House to seek a judicial order of contempt unless the AG handed over the requested documents.

I voted no on the first and yes on the second. To be clear, I absolutely believe that AG Holder has no justification for withholding properly subpoenaed documents. How to get him to comply is another matter. By voting to ask a court to order production, Congress can achieve its goal of getting to the bottom of Fast and Furious without turning Holder into a martyr for the Left. There will be plenty of time to prosecute, remove from office or force the AG to resign if the facts indicate it is appropriate.

My vote of yes on the second resolution will ensure that occurs. The criminal contempt route will simply, in my opinion, allow the Left to repeat their mantra that ‘there go those wacky Republicans again’. Washington has enough political theater and I would rather have a judge compel the AG to hand over the documents and take whatever action those documents indicate is appropriate.”

So here we go again parsing. Roberts stressed that the court was not endorsing the administration’s approach. “Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass on its wisdom or fairness,” he said. Did we learn nothing earlier in the day with Roberts giving Obama an out with Obama’s legal team “It is a Tax’.

* Dale Virgil Blanchard, Sr. (Running) Democratic which is not a choice.

Steven has held his seat for the past 14 years. When LaTourette was first elected, he said he would limit himself to four two-year terms. He then made it five two-year terms before deciding to seek a sixth term. LaTourette’s image was tarnished in 2003 when his now ex-wife complained that he had called to inform her by phone that he was involved with a lobbyist and wanted a divorce.

I will never vote in violation of the Constitution or to deprive any innocent person of his or her rights or God-given liberties. Specifically, I will never vote to institute a draft. I will never vote to increase taxes, fees, regulations or any other burdens on my constituents or other Americans. I will keep all of my promises. Unless it would violate the previous commitments, I will seek to follow the will of my constituents and always represent their best interests, to the best of my judgment and ability. In fail to keep these promises, I will resign.

Now we know they all say great things and it changes too often after they are elected. He will appeal to Ron Paul supporters:

I support Congressman Ron Paul’s bill to abolish the Selective Service System. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery except as punishment for a crime. I will oppose any new form of involuntary servitude under the collectivist guise of “national service.” It should not be a crime to be a young person. If the American people are not willing to defend our homes and the Bill of Rights voluntarily as free men, which are the only just causes for war, our country does not deserve to exist and should never exist as a slave state. It is better for individuals and nations to die honorably than to exist miserably as slaves. See Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death” speech, March 23, AD 1775

The Supreme Court has wiped their behinds with The Constitution of The United States of America with the passing of ObamaCare. Now that Government can control healthcare they can control every aspect of our personal lives. Isn’t this the kind of﻿ tyranny our forefathers fled to this land to escape? Our last chance (legally) to stop this lawless over reaching legislation is in this November’s election. We must remove Obama and all the Democrat’s so we can take back our nation from these thugs. – faustmanv

Mark Reed Levin (born September 21, 1957) is a lawyer. Levin served in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese. He is president of the Landmark Legal Foundation

Barack Obama has a history of attacking his opponents with lies, and his attacks against Mitt Romney are simply not true. Unlike President Obama who has the worst job record since the depression, Mitt Romney has a plan to get America working.